Thursday, June 20, 2013
Happy Birthday Lucy!
According to all her paperwork, today is Lucy's 6th birthday!! What a lucky dog she is :). My youngest brother was very nice to her and did all sorts of special birthday things for her (he's 10yo and still at that age where birthdays are the best thing in the world haha). He made sure my mother got her a present and he made her a "cake" (I think he just crumbled up a bunch of dog bones in a dish, but the dog liked it haha).
Saturday, June 15, 2013
MARVET
Hi All!
If you have been following my blog lately to read about MARVET, be sure to check out all the posts since May 31! If you've been reading all along, there's a chance you've missed a post or two because as I've been updating them online, I've set them to be uploaded on the day they corresponded with, even if they were posted after that date.
Enjoy!
If you have been following my blog lately to read about MARVET, be sure to check out all the posts since May 31! If you've been reading all along, there's a chance you've missed a post or two because as I've been updating them online, I've set them to be uploaded on the day they corresponded with, even if they were posted after that date.
Enjoy!
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Goodbye Playa Del Carmen
Well, this is it! My time in Mexico for MARVET is
officially over. The last several days went so quickly starting Saturday!
Although I didn’t love every minute of this trip, I loved most of them and
that’s what counts! I’m glad the rain finally let up and went away because it
was really getting on my nerves by day 5.
My roommate and I got up at 8:30a to finish getting
things together and to get breakfast before leaving. I had super yummy French
toast with bacon for breakfast – wish I had discovered that sooner! Afterwards,
we finished getting her ready to go to the ferry to Cozumel for her flight
home. My last adventure in Mexico was finding the post office to mail post
cards. The guy at the front desk told me to go to the corner of 20th
and 2nd and there I would find the mail center, so after I walked my
roommate to the ferry, I headed off to find the post office. When I arrived,
all I saw was a drop box. Not helpful as I needed stamps first! Begrudgingly
and confused, I began heading back towards the hotel to re-explain my request.
One block up, I ran into a travel agency. Lucky for me, he spoke English and I
was able to explain my predicament. He told me that it was a bright pink
building on the right and that I couldn’t miss it, so I tried again. Sure enough,
it’s bright pink! I missed it because it’s not much of a store, and it had no
identifying markings on the outside that I could see from the sidewalk. 150
pesos later, all of my cards have been mailed!
Next up was finalizing my packing plans. It didn’t take
me too long to get everything in order, so I ran back out for a few last minute
pictures. There is a beautiful statue on the beach that I had hoped to get a
good picture of during my trip and I managed to get an excellent shot as there
were few people hanging around so early in the day. Playa doesn’t really start
to get busy until mid-afternoon.
I am finally headed to the airport to catch my flight.
Several of my groupmates and I caught the ADO bus to the airport, an easy and
efficient way to travel and very close to our hotel! To think that 2 weeks ago
I stepped off that bus and went the wrong way while touring the city a bit!
Time to say goodbye – it’s been a great MARVET trip Playa
Del Carmen 2013!
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
MARVET Day 10
Today was the last day of MARVET. We headed off to Puerto
Adventuras (where we played with manatees) at 7am to tour their fish house.
During our time in the fish house, we helped prepare diets for several of the
dolphins for the day. The fish house is a spotless and super clean space. To
prepare a dolphin diet, you start by hand selecting all the fish for weighing.
The fish must essentially be perfect – no lost eyes, broken bodies, guts
hanging out, damage to the skin, etc. Next, fish are placed on a scale until
the amount the dolphin needs for the day has been met (say 3 pounds). The fish
are then evenly distributed among 4 coolers that will go into the freezer for
trainers to take out for each session that day. It’s a pretty smelly job!
We had a few more lectures to wrap up with before giving
our presentations. We were placed in groups of 4 or 5 and given a research
paper to read and present on. Our paper was about marine mammals as sentinels.
Our paper and presentation was the longest but each group managed to get
through everything! We said our thank you’s and goodbyes and headed back to the
hotel for the afternoon off.
Afternoon off? Guess what that means! More diving!! 3 of
us headed off to the dive shop for a 2 tank dive. Keeping with tradition of
being clumsy and silly, I of course caused the most problems (extremely minor
though) and we got 2 beautiful dives on reefs called Mochee and Jardines. We
saw tons of fish – I’ve never seen so many big fish in one place which is so
cool! We also saw a ton of squid and were able to get really close! We stumbled
upon an eel that was sleeping in a cave that must have been at least 6ft long
and was as thick around as a small child. I’m glad he stayed asleep! The boat
was eagerly awaiting us both times we ascended much to my relief and pleasure.
I did really well controlling my buoyancy and breathing during both these
dives, I am very proud of my progression!
We had one final MARVET dinner where we received
certificates and delicious dinner at the instructors’ house. They made so much
delicious food! After dinner, my roommate and I did some last minute shopping
before turning in for the night to pack. Tomorrow is a long day!
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Dolphin Discovery
Today was a nice and lazy morning. It started with my friend knocking on the door to pick equipment up from the dive shop and asking if I'd be up for a two tank dive tomorrow afternoon. Ecstatic about the prospect of getting 2 more dives in, I happily and readily agreed.
Next up was a delicious breakfast of pancakes at the restaurant next to the hotel. So yummy! Our day didn't start until 11:00a so we had plenty of time to sleep in and get a good breakfast. We took the 12:00p ferry over to Cozumel to visit Dolphin Discovery. They gave us a tour of the facility first and then we got to get into the water with the dolphins! We started with physical exams - dolphin skin feels so smooth and slick! Not like the rays and sharks. They were super playful and full of energy. After the PEs, they let us go through a dolphin encounter! We got hugs, kisses, dances, dorsal tows, splashes, and foot pushes! It was all very magical and exciting. I of course had to find a snorkel mask to keep my face dry during the tow and push haha. It was so much fun!
They did a special sea lion show just for our group. Diego, Rocky, and two others showed off their best tricks. They were so cute. They staged their entrances so that the smallest and youngest went first all the way up to the largest and most impressive sea lion. At the very end, they lined us up and we each received a kiss from their female sea lion.
We got to observe an endoscopy procedure on a dolphin. Unlike dogs and cats, the procedure is performed awake. The animal is surrounded by his trainers and has been trained to swallow and accept the endoscopy scope. It's really impressive - you'd never catch me willingly swallowing a tube! The camera showed beautiful pictures of the esophagus and 1st stomach compartment of the dolphin. Dolphins basically have 3 compartments in their stomach. The first one is tasked with digesting everything that enters into a gruel because dolphins swallow their food whole without even a single chew. We could see lots of fish in the stomach including the tails! Pretty neat!
We took the evening ferry back to Playa Del Carmen and by then it was time for a late dinner. After showers and a refreshing break, a bunch of us decided to hit up 100% Natural for dinner. Such a delicious restaurant. Their menu is at least a dozen pages long and in addition to having tons of yummy dishes, they have multiple pages with fruit juices and smoothies. Healthy and delicious!
Next up was a delicious breakfast of pancakes at the restaurant next to the hotel. So yummy! Our day didn't start until 11:00a so we had plenty of time to sleep in and get a good breakfast. We took the 12:00p ferry over to Cozumel to visit Dolphin Discovery. They gave us a tour of the facility first and then we got to get into the water with the dolphins! We started with physical exams - dolphin skin feels so smooth and slick! Not like the rays and sharks. They were super playful and full of energy. After the PEs, they let us go through a dolphin encounter! We got hugs, kisses, dances, dorsal tows, splashes, and foot pushes! It was all very magical and exciting. I of course had to find a snorkel mask to keep my face dry during the tow and push haha. It was so much fun!
They did a special sea lion show just for our group. Diego, Rocky, and two others showed off their best tricks. They were so cute. They staged their entrances so that the smallest and youngest went first all the way up to the largest and most impressive sea lion. At the very end, they lined us up and we each received a kiss from their female sea lion.
We got to observe an endoscopy procedure on a dolphin. Unlike dogs and cats, the procedure is performed awake. The animal is surrounded by his trainers and has been trained to swallow and accept the endoscopy scope. It's really impressive - you'd never catch me willingly swallowing a tube! The camera showed beautiful pictures of the esophagus and 1st stomach compartment of the dolphin. Dolphins basically have 3 compartments in their stomach. The first one is tasked with digesting everything that enters into a gruel because dolphins swallow their food whole without even a single chew. We could see lots of fish in the stomach including the tails! Pretty neat!
We took the evening ferry back to Playa Del Carmen and by then it was time for a late dinner. After showers and a refreshing break, a bunch of us decided to hit up 100% Natural for dinner. Such a delicious restaurant. Their menu is at least a dozen pages long and in addition to having tons of yummy dishes, they have multiple pages with fruit juices and smoothies. Healthy and delicious!
Monday, June 10, 2013
Becoming A Fish
Today's topic was all about ecosystems. We have a visiting professor who has frequented the area throughout his career and is very familiar with the local ecosystem.
We started our day at Akumal with a snorkel trip. The workers gave us a hard time about entering the public area for free (they were trying to claim we were entering private property) but eventually let us through. The water was warm and as soon as we entered, we were greeted by a munching sea turtle! The turtle was enjoying a breakfast of turtle grass before heading off. We swam the reef area and I ended up seeing another smaller Hawksbill turtle and a sting ray!
Next up on the list was Yalku. The river bed leads out to the Caribbean sea and is a mixture of fresh and salt water. The rocks looked really cool and there were tons of fish, crabs, and even a few shrimp hanging around. There was a sign at the shower station the asked visitors to not use shampoo or soup when showering. Lost in translation?
The third place we went was called Grand Cenote. A cenote is "a deep natural well or sinkhole of the Yucatán Peninsula, formed by the collapse of surface limestone." That's a pretty all-inclusive definition. They are actually pretty cool (literally as well as figuratively), but I definitely felt a little bit claustrophobic just snorkeling around. Even in my wetsuit, I was freezing! The cenote was all fresh water, which was a pleasant change from all the salty water. It was dark in the cavernous out-pouchings and stalactites hung low from the ceiling. There was a dive party enjoying themselves on the bottom, but I never ever want to dive one. Dark, cold, tight and not my style. Give me a warm tropical reef with tons of pretty animals please!
The forth place we went was a bioreserve. I'm not entirely sure what the original plan was for this site or what the goal was, but we basically just stood at the entrance and talked history for a few minutes. One of the park people offered to take us out to the cenote briefly so we accepted and got eaten alive by mosquitoes.
The last place we stopped at briefly was Casa Cenote. We simply stepped out of the vans to view the cenote and ocean sinkhole before calling it quits for the day. The cenote also has a nickname of cenote manati for supposed manatee sightings occasionally. There was a big sinkhole not far off shore under water in the ocean that we could see from the beach. It would have been interesting to take a peek over the top with a snorkel, but we were definitely tired and ready to call it quits.
Tonight I got to do a night dive! I was so excited at the prospect of getting a good dive here. My camera flash stopped working today (I'm so bummed!) so I didn't get to take it with me. It has to be sent to Olympus for service. I know the dive shop people were trying very hard to make sure everything was wonderful and perfect for us and they did an excellent job.
We collected our gear and headed down to the boat. The first thing we did when we got on the boat was assemble our tanks. Surprise! When I plugged a hose on my regulator into my BCD and turned my tank on, it began to inflate uncontrollably! The inflate button was stuck so they had to switch it out. I almost started crying when that happened because I was so worried about something else going wrong. Between the camera and the BCD and then all of our other ocean adventures or lack of, I just felt like something bad was for sure going to happen. They brought me back an extra small BCD which isn't what I'm used to so I was a little nervous about that.
Once we had descended I was totally fine. I immediately saw a trigger fish, an eel, and some shrimp, and then we saw an octopus! He was so cool! We watched him climb along the corals and change colors to better blend in. In total I saw 2 eels, 4 stingrays, 7 baby basket stars, 2 flounder, tons of huge fish, a bunch of peppermint shrimp, the largest filefish I’ve ever seen (largest fish I’ve ever seen period) sleeping in a cave, and lots and lots of crabs. I even saw a crab dragging around some sort of carcass for dinner!
We started our day at Akumal with a snorkel trip. The workers gave us a hard time about entering the public area for free (they were trying to claim we were entering private property) but eventually let us through. The water was warm and as soon as we entered, we were greeted by a munching sea turtle! The turtle was enjoying a breakfast of turtle grass before heading off. We swam the reef area and I ended up seeing another smaller Hawksbill turtle and a sting ray!
Next up on the list was Yalku. The river bed leads out to the Caribbean sea and is a mixture of fresh and salt water. The rocks looked really cool and there were tons of fish, crabs, and even a few shrimp hanging around. There was a sign at the shower station the asked visitors to not use shampoo or soup when showering. Lost in translation?
The third place we went was called Grand Cenote. A cenote is "a deep natural well or sinkhole of the Yucatán Peninsula, formed by the collapse of surface limestone." That's a pretty all-inclusive definition. They are actually pretty cool (literally as well as figuratively), but I definitely felt a little bit claustrophobic just snorkeling around. Even in my wetsuit, I was freezing! The cenote was all fresh water, which was a pleasant change from all the salty water. It was dark in the cavernous out-pouchings and stalactites hung low from the ceiling. There was a dive party enjoying themselves on the bottom, but I never ever want to dive one. Dark, cold, tight and not my style. Give me a warm tropical reef with tons of pretty animals please!
The forth place we went was a bioreserve. I'm not entirely sure what the original plan was for this site or what the goal was, but we basically just stood at the entrance and talked history for a few minutes. One of the park people offered to take us out to the cenote briefly so we accepted and got eaten alive by mosquitoes.
The last place we stopped at briefly was Casa Cenote. We simply stepped out of the vans to view the cenote and ocean sinkhole before calling it quits for the day. The cenote also has a nickname of cenote manati for supposed manatee sightings occasionally. There was a big sinkhole not far off shore under water in the ocean that we could see from the beach. It would have been interesting to take a peek over the top with a snorkel, but we were definitely tired and ready to call it quits.
Tonight I got to do a night dive! I was so excited at the prospect of getting a good dive here. My camera flash stopped working today (I'm so bummed!) so I didn't get to take it with me. It has to be sent to Olympus for service. I know the dive shop people were trying very hard to make sure everything was wonderful and perfect for us and they did an excellent job.
We collected our gear and headed down to the boat. The first thing we did when we got on the boat was assemble our tanks. Surprise! When I plugged a hose on my regulator into my BCD and turned my tank on, it began to inflate uncontrollably! The inflate button was stuck so they had to switch it out. I almost started crying when that happened because I was so worried about something else going wrong. Between the camera and the BCD and then all of our other ocean adventures or lack of, I just felt like something bad was for sure going to happen. They brought me back an extra small BCD which isn't what I'm used to so I was a little nervous about that.
Once we had descended I was totally fine. I immediately saw a trigger fish, an eel, and some shrimp, and then we saw an octopus! He was so cool! We watched him climb along the corals and change colors to better blend in. In total I saw 2 eels, 4 stingrays, 7 baby basket stars, 2 flounder, tons of huge fish, a bunch of peppermint shrimp, the largest filefish I’ve ever seen (largest fish I’ve ever seen period) sleeping in a cave, and lots and lots of crabs. I even saw a crab dragging around some sort of carcass for dinner!
I love diving at night. A lot of people feel creeped out
by it, but I love how vibrant the colors are. I love how peaceful the ocean
looks while fish are sleeping (I saw lots of sleeping parrotfish and
surgeonfish). There is an entirely different set of critters to be looked at at
night, and it feels so special to find them. I don’t feel like something is
going to come out of the dark and eat me, that’s not how the ocean works. If
you startle a fish or shark, then sure you might get nibbled, but you’ll see
that and nothing intentionally comes up to pick a fight. Nature would rather
not try and fight. I love that when you have to use a flashlight, you can only
see a small snapshot of the reef at one time. You get to pick apart a small
area with your eyes and really see everything it has to offer. I love that.
We finally ascended after 63 minutes because my
flashlight died. Not at all scary, the group was right next to me and I could
see them with their lights (they just couldn’t see me!). That’s by far the
longest dive I’ve ever done and I am so excited by it! We did a three minute
safety stop before breaking the surface and when we did, the boat was right
there waiting for us. Bobbing in the black waters next to the boat, I could see
a Cozumel lit up on one side of me, and Playa Del Carmen lit up on the other.
It was truly beautiful and so peaceful. I could have stayed there for a while
admiring the beauty. Perhaps not floating at sea without the boat though haha.
We headed back to shore quickly and took care of all our
dive gear. It was a phenomenal dive and by far my favorite. Not saying too much
since I’ve only logged 12, but I loved every second of it! A quick shower and
pizza for dinner and it’s time for bed – I’m exhausted!
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Whale Sharks...
Well despite the crazy weather and ocean conditions the Yucatan has been having lately, today's weather held out and we had a beautiful day with calm seas.
The morning started early. We were to meet up as a group at 6:30a and head to Cancun from there. My roommate and I thought we set out alarm for 6a, but we received a big surprise when a friend knocked on the door at 6:28a looking for us. Yikes! Luckily we're quick and pulled it together in under 10 minutes!
The drive to Cancun from Playa is about an hour and we headed off to the marina in vans provided by the tour company. We were all pretty excited, albeit a bit nervous (at least us divers were!) about the prospects of rough seas. The whole group took dramamine before coming today whether they thought they'd need it or not since we were going to be on the ocean for many hours today. Upon arrival at the dock, we were greeted with juice, coffee and breakfast snacks before loading up the small boats and heading out.
They told us it would probably be about an hour to get out to the feeding grounds so we all settled in for a pleasant ride. At the hour mark, they slowed the boat down and told us to start looking for dorsal fins as we rode along. We looked, and looked, and looked some more. An hour passed, then another, then another, then another and still nothing unfortunately. All of the boats out were searching hard, visiting all of the known feeding areas frequented by the whale sharks, but we never did find any. :( Very disappointing! 8 hours on a boat and all we saw was 5 sea turtles and a little reef (snorkeling).
The company was very nice and brought us lunch, snacks, and drinks but it certainly was a long day! I had my wet suit on almost the whole time to spare my skin from sun exposure, but my hands and face are still pretty burnt. I have a lovely line across the back of my hands and rings from my sunglasses. It's super attractive haha. I know our whole group is extremely disappointed that we didn't get to see or swim with the whale sharks. It was such a letdown to have a poor diving experience yesterday and then not see the sharks today that we were really looking forward to. Unfortunately that's the trouble with wild life! They don't particularly care to cooperate and it's always an unpredictable event when working with any animals, let alone wild ones that tend to live hundreds of meters below the ocean surface.
The morning started early. We were to meet up as a group at 6:30a and head to Cancun from there. My roommate and I thought we set out alarm for 6a, but we received a big surprise when a friend knocked on the door at 6:28a looking for us. Yikes! Luckily we're quick and pulled it together in under 10 minutes!
The drive to Cancun from Playa is about an hour and we headed off to the marina in vans provided by the tour company. We were all pretty excited, albeit a bit nervous (at least us divers were!) about the prospects of rough seas. The whole group took dramamine before coming today whether they thought they'd need it or not since we were going to be on the ocean for many hours today. Upon arrival at the dock, we were greeted with juice, coffee and breakfast snacks before loading up the small boats and heading out.
They told us it would probably be about an hour to get out to the feeding grounds so we all settled in for a pleasant ride. At the hour mark, they slowed the boat down and told us to start looking for dorsal fins as we rode along. We looked, and looked, and looked some more. An hour passed, then another, then another, then another and still nothing unfortunately. All of the boats out were searching hard, visiting all of the known feeding areas frequented by the whale sharks, but we never did find any. :( Very disappointing! 8 hours on a boat and all we saw was 5 sea turtles and a little reef (snorkeling).
The company was very nice and brought us lunch, snacks, and drinks but it certainly was a long day! I had my wet suit on almost the whole time to spare my skin from sun exposure, but my hands and face are still pretty burnt. I have a lovely line across the back of my hands and rings from my sunglasses. It's super attractive haha. I know our whole group is extremely disappointed that we didn't get to see or swim with the whale sharks. It was such a letdown to have a poor diving experience yesterday and then not see the sharks today that we were really looking forward to. Unfortunately that's the trouble with wild life! They don't particularly care to cooperate and it's always an unpredictable event when working with any animals, let alone wild ones that tend to live hundreds of meters below the ocean surface.
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